Truss



(N0 Modell.)

- TRUss. N0.-294,321. Patented Peb. 26,1384.-

WITNESSES: Jgd. /t l I f l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELBRIDGE HOWE, OF PETERBOROUGH, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

TRuss.v

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 294,321, datedFebruary, 1884. Application tiled December 3. 1883*. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELBRIDGE How'n, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Peterborough, in the county of Hillsborough andl State ofNew. Hampshire, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inTrusses; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled inthe art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of thisspecification, and in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion`of a truss provided with my improved joint.

Fig. 2 is a similar view of the jointlon an en larged scale, and Fig. 3is a longitudinal vertical section of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all thegures.

My invention has' relation to joints fo;` connecting adj u stably thepad of a truss to the end of the spring; and it consists in the improvedconstruction and combination of parts of such a joint, which will allowuniversal ad'- justment, as hereinafter more'fully described and.claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, the letter Aa indicates the end of thespring,and B the pad, the outer side of which is provided with aset-Vscrew, C, upon which slides aslotted plate, D, the outer end of which isconcavo-convex, as shown at E, and provided with corrugations F and acentral aperture, G. A plate, ]E[is secured to the end of the spring,and the outer end of this plate hasl a similar concavo-convex cup, I,which fits over the outer corrugated side of the plate upon the pad,having corrugations J upon its inner side, and a central 4o aperture, K,through which'a set-screw, L,

passes, the central aperture in the cup upon the plate fastened to thespring being smaller than the perforation in the c up of the plate. uponthe pad, whichlatter perforation will allow the set-screw to playin alldirections in it. The inner end of the set-screw is provided with aconcavo-convex nut,M, which bears.

against the inner concave side of the inner cup or the-cup of the plateupon the pad. It will now be seen that by loosening the setscrew theouter cup may be turned upon the inner cup, the screw playing inthellarger perforation inthe inner cup, 'both cups forming aball-andsocket joint, and that by tightening the screw the cups will beforced together,and the corrugations upon the outer side of the innercup and upon the inner side of the outer cup, engaging each other, willprevent the cups from turning. Within each other. In this manner it willbe seen that the pad may be adjusted in almost any position relative'tothe end of the spring, doing away with the several sets of screws andjoints heretofore used for the purpose of accomplishing this-result,thus making the truss less cumbersome, and simplifying its construction.

I am aware that joints consisting of con- -cave and convex platescapable of adjustment in one plane have been used in trusses, and I amalso aware that ball-andesocket joints have been used, the ball beingupon the end of the spring, and the socket in the back of the pad., andI do not claim such construction, broadly; but

In a truss, the combination of a plate secured upon the pad, and forminga concavoconvex cup upon its outer end, provided with corrugations uponits convex side, and having a vlarge central aperture, a plate securedupon the end of the spring, and forming a concavoconvexcup upon itsouter end, provided with vcorrugations upon its concave side, and havinga small central aperture, a set-screw fitting in the smaller apertureand playing in the larger aperture of the c up, anda concavoconvex nutfitting upon the inner end of the screw, as and for the purpose shownand set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereuntoaftixedmy signature in presence of two witnesses. Y f

. ELBRIDGE HOWE. Witnesses:

EZRA M. SMITH, Josnrn DAvis.

